Free Food Science Training

Professional Development Program in Food Science
July 15 – 21, 2018
Washington, DC

Applications are due on or before April 17, 2018.
APPLY NOW

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible to participate in the Professional Development Program in Food Science. You must:

• • Hold US Citizenship
  • Be employed full time as a middle school or secondary school teacher (Grades 6-12)
  • Teach science, FCS or health education in a US School, including the DoD school system
  • Have at least three years of consecutive, full-time teaching experience (by the program start date)
  • Have an up-to-date teaching certificate that will be uploaded as part of your application. (If a teaching certificate is not required by your current school, a letter of explanation will be required).

All participants must meet the criteria listed above before applying online.

Application Requirements and CheckList (PDF)

The checklist provides all the information required to complete your application. We suggest you print this document to use as a checklist before you begin the online application.

About the Program

Selected middle level and high school science, FACS and health educators will have an opportunity to be involved in a multidimensional professional development program that includes learning how to teach the Science and Our Food Supplycurriculum in their own classroom; and how to provide training sessions about this program to professional colleagues in their region. Specific activities take place during an intensive training session in Washington, DC that begins on Sunday, July 15, and ends late Saturday afternoon, July 21. Participants leave Washington, DC, on Sunday, July 22.

The week-long program includes an overview of the farm to table process, food safety and nutrition education resources, and visits to agricultural facilities, FDA labs, and college labs, where experiments from the Science and Our Food Supplycurriculum are taught by college professors.

When teachers return to their schools in the fall, they are expected to teach segments of the Food Safety and Nutrition curriculum in their classrooms. Each teacher receives a materials stipend for classroom/lab supplies to facilitate their instruction of this curriculum. An honorarium is provided to summer program graduates once they have taught the program to their professional colleagues in the spring and submitted a comprehensive final report.

The FDA/NSTA Professional Development Program in Food Science is supported by the Food and Drug Administration and implemented by Graduate School USA.

The FDA/NSTA Professional Development Program in Food Science includes:

• 1. Summer Training
     This is a one-week training program for middle-level and high school science, FCS and health educators. Travel, lodging and meal expenses will be provided. The agenda includes:
     • Content updates by food science experts
     • Visits to FDA and other facilities
     • Presentations by government and industry leaders
     • Hands-on practice with new curriculum materials
     • Exchange of teaching/learning strategies
     • Planning for participant-presented workshops, i.e., Train-the-Trainer Program
  2. Curriculum Implementation 
     Participants will implement the FDA/NSTA Science and Our Food Supply supplementary curriculum in food safety and nutrition during the subsequent school year.
  3. Participant-presented Workshops – Train-the-Trainer
     All participants are expected to present a six-hour, hands-on workshop in their respective school, district, or region during the 2018-2019 academic year. An honorarium and workshop material expenses will be provided.
  4. On-Line Support
     Facilitated by Graduate School USA